Ourobouros Rekindled
by Cypher of Kumogakure
Summary: When Naruto got over confident, he botched a jutsu. But not just any jutsu. An experimental spacemanipulation jutsu. Only now he's stuck in a body not his, in a time not his, and reliving a nightmare. AU from Chapter 351. ON HIATUS TILL NOV. 25.
1. Recursion

A/N There will be no **slash/shonen ai/yaoi** in this story. Most likely no pairings, either. And if I do a pairing, it definitely **won't** be Anyone/Harem. Now, onward! This will be AU from Manga chapter 351.

Chapter 1 : Recursion

The village of Konoha, amongst the five great shinobi powers, had a reputation for being the most likely to avoid conflict, and the most likely to seek peace in the outbreak of it. This was often attributed to the almost idyllic surroundings of the village. Where others had to contend with deserts, river valleys, swamps and mountainous ranges, the Leaf Village was snug within a forest, surrounded for miles at a stretch with greenery and forests. Within this verdant haven, many purposes were served. Lovers liaised here, children often played here, and some ninja used the remote location to practice possibly dangerous techniques. It was this last which served Uzumaki Naruto very well for his purpose.

"Damn Ero-sennin anyway, what does he think he's trying to pull? First he tells me he's going to try and help me check and possibly correct the faults in that jutsu, then he goes off and gets drunk, and now he's gone off Kami-sama knows where. Shizune-nee-chan says he's in a meeting with Tsunade-Obaa-chan, but he promised to be here today, not yammering away about old times with his former teammate!" the young man grumbled and groused as he leapt through the branches to his own little hidey-hole within. Well, not so much a hidey-hole, but he had always found privacy to let go in that little clearing. When all the taunts and jeers, and those cold eyes got too much, he would always retreat there. He suspected Sandaime-ojiichan knew about his little excursions into the forest, but he had never forbidden it. One of those little things…

He arrived at the clearing, and immediately began a small warm-up (for him), and then, atypically, sank into a cross-legged sitting position, and began to calm himself. Delving deep within the depths of his mind, he _grabbed _on to the tether that had been there for the past fifteen months, ever since he had started trying to reinvent this jutsu.

His body immediately acquired an otherworldly blue-green glow, as a tracery of what first appeared to be mere lines erupted on his skin. As they gained focus, a veritable cascade of complex seals revealed themselves. Any shinobi with a halfway decent chakra sensing ability would immediately have been able to sense a… _wrongness _in the air around the blond tyro.

Naruto opened his eyes.

'Now what's next? Ero-sennin said we'd have to see if this chain seal on my left arm couldn't take another stabilizing outline without collapsing, eh? I should be able to do this. I can't keep relying on that pervert to do my seals for me. After all, I still have to become Hokage!' So saying, Naruto plucked a scroll from his side pouch, and pumped some chakra into it to unseal it, revealing… a brush. And ink. And even more ink, of a different shade of crimson. A clone instantly appeared beside Naruto, and took the implements in hand.

'You know what we're going for, right?'

'Of course I do! I'm you after all.'

'Just reminding you. If you get the sequence wrong, you could incinerate me on the spot. Or twist my organs around. Or offer me as a sacrifice to the fabled Yamata no Orochi. Or turn all my kunai into flesh-eating butterflies. Or…'

'I get it, I get it, I'm you, remember? Besides, this is the **one** thing in our life we have natural talent at. So would you please get off my back and let me seal?'

PageBreak

'Tsunade, you know he's likely to go haring off after the Uchiha at the slightest opportunity', Jiraiya commented as he sipped from his tumbler of _sake_ in the Hokage's office. The setting sun cast it's rays into the office at an angle which provided a coruscating display of oranges and reds. But neither of the powerful shinobi in the room noticed it.

'Well of course I know that. He's likely to be assembling a team even now. You know as well as I do, the gift Naruto has for inspiring loyalty to him. Even now, I can bet that, of any of that group of young shinobi that came through with him in the last Chuunin Exam before I returned to the village, any he asked to accompany him would not hesitate. He's like that." The Hokage sighed, and poured herself another tumbler of the intoxicant. A large pile of paperwork lay to the side. She rose from her seat, the graceful movement giving the lie to her fifty-plus years in the world, and strode towards the large window behind her chair.

'You know, perhaps sending him may be the best idea. No hold it Jiraiya', for the white-haired man had raised an eyebrow, 'hear me out. Uchiha Sasuke, as far as we know, is not a threat to the village at the moment. In fact, if he succeeds in his little vendetta, he'll have eliminated Konoha's two most troublesome former _employees_ for us. Yet if he decided to continue on his own path afterward? Or joined another village, or even formed his own? The last bearer of the Sharingan would definitely not lack for suitors. We cannot let that power into anyone else's hands.'

'I'm not willing to send out a hunter-nin team specifically for him because I still believe Naruto can perform another miracle. Besides, getting the Sharingan back would give me enough breathing room with the Council to neutralize Danzou. He's beginning to become more and more of a problem. Not to mention, would they be powerful enough to do their duty?' Tsunade questioned as she reached under the table and grabbed a fresh bottle of _sake_. Drinking deeply, she turned back to the window, which was now overlooking a twilit village, and continued.

'You tell me the Akatsuki are nearing completion of their targets, and now civil war is a very strongpossibility. I'm beset on all sides, and at this point I'm willing to try anything to get one or other off my back.'

'Yet you're risking even worse by sending Naruto out with the recovery team. What if Itachi managed to capture him instead, eh? Then you'd have lost us one of Konoha's most powerful shinobi, and simultaneously providing both Danzou and Akatsuki with the final pieces in their jigsaw puzzles. And what would it do to you, Tsunade?', he continued, rising and walking over to the window as well. 'I know you do hold a lot of affection for the boy, some of your behaviour to the contrary'.

'And you don't?', Tsunade returned pointedly. Suddenly she seemed to slump. 'We all do what we must, Jiraiya. There's no other way forward. If Naruto got captured… I'd go out my self and beat up all those Akatsuki bastards. You'd join me, wouldn't you? One last ride for us old fogies, eh?'.

PageBreak

Naruto was still labouring on, deep into the night, heedless of the various insects and miscellaneous … _things_, hovering around him. He was still assiduously tracing patterns on the forest floor, trying to find a new symmetry that would allow him to add to the so far incomplete sealing pattern on his body without killing him, or worse, releasing the furball.

And he was on to something. Perhaps. A sliver of a chance. And Uzumaki Naruto was nothing if not a risk-taker.

'**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu.'**

In the back of his mind, Naruto knew, intellectually, that he **should** have waited for Jiraiya, shouldn't have taken the uneniable risk of journeying into uncharted territory without an expert seal defuser at hand; yet he just knew somehow that Jiraiya might not have let him get this far. And this was a breakthrough he might not have ever even contemplated when sane, yet through sleep-lidded eyes it all seemed to come together.

Direct time-space manipulation without an anchor was a pipe-dream. That was the accepted wisdom under which they were working. Distance in the _fuzz_… for the lack of a better word, never actually correlated with real-life distance. As such the beacon of a _shiki _rite on a kunai or other object was necessary to suitably judge movement within the _fuzz_.

Until now, perhaps.

The only warning Naruto received before it went wrong was a sudden burst of ominous laughter from within his mind.

PageBreak

The Kyuubi no Kitsune. Legendary schemer. Powerful demon. And prisoner. That last had chafed with him for too long now. That thrice damned blond insect had sealed him well. The seal was still to strong for him too break by main strength alone. Even after the other blond insect that was his prison started using his chakra, the seal still hadn't weakened sufficiently. And the demon was beginning to contemplate a suicidal attempt to break the seal by arcane means, when he noticed a sudden change in his environs. Curious, he padded over to the bars of his 'cage', a metaphor for his sealed state, and there he found something that both exhilarated and terrified him at the same time.

The seal was glowing, with a new set of characters emerging as the old was slowly being wiped away. As the old disappeared, something else changed within his cage. And yet the new seal would take away his lingering hopes of escape. He would have exactly one chance to destroy this seal, if he judged correctly. Otherwise, he'd as well kill himself.

The Kyuubi no Kitsune knew a last chance when he saw one.

EndChapter

Short, innit? I want all the constructive criticism you can throw at me. And no, I'm not planning an actual merger with the Kyuubi, now or ever. Hopefully the next chapter will be out in exactly one week's time.


	2. Confusion and Terror

**Chapter 2: Confusion and Terror, Heralds of Chaos**

Haruno Sakura was absolutely certain that she had never felt such raw, unvarnished terror before.

She continued to turn her head every which way, trying in vain to find their mysterious assailant before he did something else, something even worse than that giant snake he had summoned earlier.

It just didn't make any sense! When she had decided to prove a point to herself and enter the Chuunin exam, she had never in her worst nightmares believed she would be so thoroughly outmatched, outmanoeuvred, and trapped in this situation, with no escape in sight. She looked over her shoulder, and saw Sasuke-kun leap from a branch, which broke just as his weight left it.

_Even Sasuke-kun is running scared, _she thought. _And Naruto is stuck out in the forest again, doing Kami knows what. _She almost slipped and fell from the branch in front of her, as her chakra began to run low. She pulled four kunai, a shuriken, an exploding tag, and some wire from her pouch, and began to pull a hasty trap together as they ran.

_If only Naruto were here, he and Sasuke-kun would come up with something and outwit this Jounin, just like they did against Zabuza. _For it was becoming increasingly clear to her that this was no Genin. He was so far beyond their level it was no longer a remotely funny matter. _But Sasuke-kun and Naruto… they can do anything together!_

This line of thought began to lead her down a depressing path. _I've never been any use on this team. It's always me in the background, me always relying on my team-mates to save me. I was always…_

Suddenly another great snake loomed in the path before them, and Sakura only escaped being swallowed by a sliver of skin. The snake-like man (or was it woman?) on the snake's head began laughing in high, cruel tones.

"Ku ku ku, did you think you were going to escape me that way? Hmm?" the attacker as his snake took a bite out of the tree branch where Sasuke had just been standing. "You're not entertaining me enough, Sasuke-kun. Good prey always tries to evade the predator by weaving a tricky path, not this pathetic line we've been running. Or have you already lost your mind? Collapsed gibbering in terror? Let fear completely take over? Good, good! Then you won't mind if my pet here has a snack, do you?" and the snake suddenly turned and lunged in a frozen Sakura's direction.

_OhgodOhgod I'mgoingtodieI'mgoingtodieInevergottokissSasukekunitwasn'tsupposedtoendthisway…_

She felt an arm, Sasuke-kun's arm, encircle her waist and she found herself being transported away. Just in time too, for the snake had taken a huge bite out of the tree, which was beginning to give way.

Oh, how did she ever get so unlucky?

Section Break

He wasn't quite sure yet, but he suspected that he had made a _huge _mistake while activating the hook seal. For one thing, the sky wasn't quite right, and his body felt weird and cumbersome. His chakra also felt different, but that wasn't his priority right now, he supposed.

That was strange. He was pretty sure that the last of his old blue-and-orange jumpsuits had been destroyed eighteen months ago, in circumstances which Ero-sennin had _still_ refused to explain to him. And yet he was wearing one right now. And the world seemed to have changed perspective overnight: everything seemed to be larger than before. And the trees looked rather different too, almost as if he'd gone into the Forest of Death again. And the sky wasn't quite right…

_Genjutsu_! He gritted his teeth. He _knew_ he shouldn't have come out here alone today, and now someone, probably one of those Akatsuki bastards, had put him under an illusion! Damn it all to hell!

Well, there was nothing to do for it but fight his way out. He brought his palms together in a seal, and performed that manoeuvre which seemed from another lifetime now, to remove the hold of this genjutsu.

"**Kai!" **(_Release!)_

Yet nothing changed, nothing so much as wavered. Who had put him under such a powerful genjutsu? It didn't even seem to respond in anyway to his efforts, and that was impossible as far as he was concerned. He put his hands together, and tried again. And again. And…

Only his reflexes, honed from a lifetime of running from Iruka-sensei, saved him in time, as he rolled away from his assailant, and turned to find a huge snake staring him in the eye. There was something familiar about this scenario…

The snake lunged again as Naruto leaped up into the trees. Looking down on the snake, he noted that this specimen was too large to be natural. This meant summoned snakes. And there was only one snake summoner Naruto knew of in this world…

_Orochimaru!_ A white-hot rage began to boil within him, but he pressed it down with some difficulty. Now was not the time to let his anger take control of him. There were too many consequences to letting his anger free rein, and besides, there was still the small matter of a snake to take care of. He began to gather swirling chakra in his palm… and found to his surprise, that he could not control the flows of chakra! He was confused, but he didn't have much time to indulge himself as the summon sniffed him out, and once again lunged directly at him. This was getting annoying, and the only time he could remember fighting a snake this size was in his first, and so far only, Chuunin exam.

Wait. The snake he fought then and this snake were eerily similar. It was the _same_ snake in fact! What kind of illusion was this anyway? Retreading an old path he had lived, and relived in his nightmares? But already, things were different, he thought, as he tried to once again form a Rasengan surreptitiously. He failed again, and again, before he had another brain wave.

He formed his hands into a familiar cross-shaped seal and with a puff of smoke, two clones appeared beside him, and began to swirl the emitted chakra. As the Rasengan formed itself, the clones immediately scattered to different points surrounding the snake, and at an unspoken command, they leaped unto the snake with screams and kunai forward.

The snake predictably lunged at one of the clones, who managed to throw a kunai into the snake's mouth before being dispelled. The other clone immediately paused and formed a seal. A hidden explosive tag on the kunai the other clone had thrown immediately exploded. As the snake whirled and flailed about in pain and confusion, the real Naruto leapt upon its head with a cry.

"**Rasengan" **_(Spiral Sphere)_

The snake's head seemed to implode, as pieces of flesh, bone, and other things Naruto didn't want to think about flew from the snake's carcass. He landed a few feet away from the thrashing snake, and watched in morbid fascination as everything seemed to come to a _head_, before the snake suddenly stopped moving, and fell crashing down. Naruto immediately turned away and started heading unerringly east of his current position, where he judged that Orochimaru was.

Section Break

Orochimaru was not enjoying himself very much.

Oh sure, it was pleasing to feel the terror palpably oozing from the two pre-pubescent teenagers currently leading him a merry chase around this little patch of forest. And he supposed that the Uchiha boy being this weak meant that he would not have much trouble convincing him to join Otogakure, or to take him over when the time came, but this was ridiculous. He didn't want an incredibly weak body which could barely take any punishment for himself, and so far, the rookie genius was not assuring him in that regard. Perhaps if he took him anyway, he could take some time to weed out that weakness, and turn him into a vessel worthy of Orochimaru's life-force…

His musings were rudely cut short by a hail of kunai racing for him. As he substituted himself with a mud clone, he turned in his new position to observe the person who had so rudely interrupted him.

Section Break

"Orochimaru."

This single word was said with a surprising amount of malice, in Sasuke's opinion, especially if he wasn't hallucinating and it was actually the dobe's voice he was hearing.

He took a deep, cleansing breath and turned to Naruto's direction. For it was indeed Naruto, though his eyes bespoke a deep fury at odds with the situation. Granted, the Kusa-nin (_Orochimaru?_) was trying to kill him and Sakura, but the way Naruto was glaring, one would think he had a long history with their assailant.

A sudden flood of shame threatened to overwhelm him. He was an _Uchiha,_ dammit! The best of the best! A superior shinobi! And here he was, cowering like a child behind a tree-bough, waiting for someone to come save him from the bogey-man. Like he hadn't gained any strength at all since the last time. Like he was still a naïve seven year-old, still blindly hanging on to his beloved nii-san's every word. Like the weakling he had been, who had let his entire clan die, because he wasn't strong enough! Sasuke felt his jaw clench, and his fists curl up in anger, as he mentally flailed himself. Even now, he could hear Itachi's mocking voice, telling him to run away, taunting his weakness, hounding him with his cutting words.

"Oi Sasuke, I didn't take you for a scaredy-cat! What are you doing hiding there? Come out, and let's give this snake bastard what-for!" This, of course, was Naruto, screaming his defiance to the world. Yet he saw the hand signals Naruto had surprisingly remembered, and prepared to launch a hastily-put together trap. Yes, he was an Uchiha. He was strong. He would not fail here. He still had places to go, people to kill, and no second-rate snake summoner would stop him!

Even as these thoughts went through the raven-haired shinobi's mind, he felt a burning sensation behind his eyes, and exulted in the instinctive knowledge that his Sharingan was evolving. Yes, he held the infinite power of the ultimate doujutsu, he could not, would not allow himself to lose here.

And then a hand cut his airflow off, muffling him.

Section Break

Naruto was really regretting his decision at the moment. He wiped a stream of blood from his upper brow, and shifted the arm nursing his torso. He was quite sure they were at least two cracked ribs there.

Across him stood his errant team-mates, both of them not looking a day over 12. Gods but this was a _realistic_ genjutsu. There was Sasuke, still looking as though he had never been other than the friend/rival/brother he still longed for, though looking a bit worse for wear. And Sakura-chan, miraculously returned to childhood relatively. And with that same deadly punch too. His brow _still_ hadn't stopped bleeding.

"What were you trying to pull just now, dobe? Another second and I could have killed you by mistake!" hissed Sasuke, who still had the imprints of his fingers over his face. "Couldn't you have, I don't know, _spoken_ first or something?"

"Yeah, Naruto, you really should use your head more often. We are in a dangerous situation as it is-" She never got to say more as Naruto cut her off.

"Yeah, dangerous situation. Trust me, you don't know the half of it, Sakura-chan. Even if we had Kakashi-sensei here, and we worked as a team, we still wouldn't be able to defeat that guy. Not yet, anyway. That guy was Orochimaru, one of the Legendary Sannin. The best we could do was escape for the moment. The … entertainment … I set up for him should hold him for a while we run away." This last statement punctuated by a grim smile. "ANBU should be heading in here soon. They might get lucky and kill him, but most likely the only people who can face him, other than the Sandaime, aren't in town." _Or more precisely, either spying at a hot springs or gambling their life away, most likely_, Naruto added to himself. Ero-sennin would never change, no matter the incarnation he was in this illusion. He was probably sneaking to peek on the hot-springs when he was a toddler. And as for Tsunade-no-baachan, the less said, the better.

He was broken out of his reverie by Sasuke, who was shaking out a roll of wire "-long will he be delayed, Naruto?" The raven-haired genius was seemingly broken of his panic when Naruto spirited him away. Now he was setting a rushed three-step trap with the wire and his last set of kunai. "Hmm? Or did someone switch off your brain, dobe? Remember, we're in the middle of a situation here."

"Hold that trap, Sasuke. We need to leave here first of all, get to the river, maybe stock up on water and fish, but get far, far away from here. He's faster than us, and he can certainly sense us from over there if he concentrates. Give or take a minute, he should be free in five minutes or so. We should -" his flow of thought was interrupted by the flow of information from his newly disrupted clones. All eight of them, telling him that Orochimaru was after them, and with a vengeance. "He's free from the trap! Let's go everyone, no time for explanations!" He leapt from his perch, heading due east, where he knew the tower ought to be. Not five leaps however, he suddenly found himself crashing to the forest floor.

He'd run straight into the snake bastard's fist. And it hurt. A lot.

"You didn't think your pathetic clones could hold me for long, did you, Naruto-kun?" the Hebi-Sennin practically purred. "There is no place to run, and no place to hide now, hmm?"

Chapter End

A/N: Everyone, I have a new beta! The most Distinguished Leviticus Lied has graciously accepted to beta my piddling story. Any errors are solely of my own creation. And read her story, 'Lies'. Even if you don't like slash (like me), it's still a pretty good story on its own.


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